The Plan: Executive Summary / Need, Importance, Urgency / Purpose & Philosophy / General / Future Development / Appendix / Proposal Process

THE PLAN: GENERAL

The plan described below is designed to meet the criteria that emerged during the planning process. It is a transitional plan, as noted above, though it has been carefully enough designed to constitute the permanent programmatic framework for the Consortium. It aims to provide immediate and broad benefits for library customers; to focus on the problems that are most critical for the libraries of the Consortium; to promote creativity and experimentation; to enhance acceptance on the part of key stakeholders (library staffs, faculty, other customers); to satisfy continuing needs for communication; to ground plan activities in a clear and enabling governance structure; to provide a flexible framework that will be responsive to critical changes. The three major components of the plan are:

1. Governance Structure
   
2. Project Proposal Process
   
3. Communication, Training, Staff Development Systems
   

Membership. Members of the Consortium are those academic libraries in the ILLINET community that sign the consortial agreement provided in Appendix III, plus the Chicago Public Library and the Illinois State Library. The number of libraries in the consortium may expand as new libraries sign the agreement to become fully participating members.

Governing Committee. The Cooperative Collection Management Coordinating Committee (CCMCC) is the governing body responsible for developing and implementing the Illinois Cooperative Collection Management Program. The chief purpose of the CCMCC is to promote and enable resource-sharing among members of the consortium for the ultimate benefit of the citizens of Illinois. The CCMCC is responsible for coordinating collaborative projects on behalf of the Illinois academic and research library community and other constituents within the state, including the establishment of procedures for the allocation of funds to specific projects. The Committee also informs the library community and other interested parties of Program initiatives, plans and projects, and manages associated training, communication, and staff development efforts.

The CCMCC structure is representative of the consortial membership; it is comprised of seventeen individuals.

• Twelve individuals are nominated by and elected from all participating members of the consortium. All elected members will serve three year terms, with four members rotating on and off the committee each year.

• One individual is appointed by the community college library community, and one System Director is appointed by the Illinois Library System Directors Organization (ILSDO). The Director of the Illinois State Library (or individual appointed by the Director of the Illinois State Library) serves on the Committee.

• The CCMP Program Director (the individual under whose name grants are submitted) and the CCMP Coordinator serve ex officio. Neither of these ex officio members has voting privileges on the Committee.

• The Committee includes a balance of directors and librarians with collection development responsibility while maintaining representation from Systems, community colleges, and the State Library. An election committee will be organized each year to ensure such representation.

• The CCMCC Chair is elected from the Committee and shall serve a one year term. After his or her term is ended, the past Chair serves ex officio on the Committee for an additional year.

• The CCMCC Vice-Chair is elected from the Committee and shall serve a one year term; he or she assumes the role of Chair the following year.

Member library responsibilities. Libraries participating in consortial projects are responsible for participating in planning, development and implementation of projects as needed. The member libraries must be willing to accept some financial responsibility for the long-term maintenance of the Consortium, its programs and plans.

II. PROJECT PROPOSAL PROCESS

The key activities of the consortium will be a series of collaborative projects developed by consortial member libraries. As such projects prove successful, they can be extended and modified in ways deemed appropriate by the membership.

These projects represent a multi-faceted and manageable approach to the problem of collaboration. They address improvement of access, broader dissemination of electronic resources, maintenance of last subscriptions and copies, further discovery of critical needs, and planning for a comprehensive approach to subject coverage, including mapping of collection strengths and assignment of primary collecting responsibilities. Full pilot project proposals are available for consultation; they are presented in synopsis in Appendix II.

III. COMMUNICATION,TRAINING, STAFF DEVELOPMENT

A key component of any successful consortial plan is frequent, ongoing, multidirectional communication among members. Members need to know what projects are being developed, how current projects are faring, whether there have been any significant changes in projects. They need to be able to give input on planning but they also need to take responsibility for reading communications and providing timely comments. One way of accomplishing these goals is through the electronic listserv (ILCCM-L) available to all members.

A formal component of the communication system includes brief quarterly reports and a summative annual report. These reports will focus on the projects undertaken, their status and benefits. They will be of use in the continual process of communicating with key stakeholders among library staff, faculty, and other library users.

An important outcome of the planning process was the realization of the benefits of the retreats as developmental experiences. In order to manage collections collaboratively, participants need to interact with one another. Much of this interaction can take place in electronic form, but some needs to be face to face. Such collaborative experiences, furthermore, promote creativity and risk-taking, improve the quality and effectiveness of planning, and promote understanding and acceptance of projects. With resource sharing, as has been mentioned, there is the added dimension of newness. For many participants, working out collaborative projects and agreements represents a new way of thinking and behaving. It is especially important that staff not directly involved in collections management (e.g. interlibrary loan staff) be oriented to the purposes of resource sharing, the present plan, and the specific projects that have been developed.

Staff can be introduced to resource sharing and collaborative collections management through written materials, but this needs to be supplemented by training sessions in which they have a chance to respond to the planning, ask questions, and understand in a more visceral way what resource sharing is all about. Therefore the plan includes a half day of on-site introductory training for relevant staff in the member libraries. More extensive interinstitutional workshop opportunities are provided for those (e.g., selectors) who have the potential to develop projects. In this way, the learning organization model so much discussed today can be expanded to the consortium. Individuals within the consortium are constantly developing their collaborative skills and building on the collegial relationships so important to consortial success.